By Algis J. Laukaitis, The Associated Press
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - The Nebraska State Patrol Crime Lab isn’t like the popular television show “CSI.”
As most cops who watch the show and other shows like it know, solving crimes takes a lot longer in real life, says Connie Jensen, a ballistics technician.
But Jensen had a CSI moment recently when she got the law enforcement agency’s first cold “hit” on the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network.
Jensen, with the help of a sophisticated piece of machinery, matched cartridge casings from two separate criminal incidents - a drive-by shooting from October 2002 and the arrest of a man carrying a concealed weapon in January 2004. Both incidents occurred in Lincoln. But without the help of the Integrated Ballistic Identification System, the link may never have been discovered, lab officials say.
“There was no reason for them (Lincoln police) to believe there was a connection,” said criminalist Mark Bohaty.
The Integrated Ballistic Identification System uses lasers, microscopes, cameras and fiber optics to examine and record digital images of the markings made by a firearm on bullets and cartridge casings.
Once a digital image is made, the system compares that image with previous images entered into its database. It can also search databases in other states.
“The main idea is to connect crimes together and hopefully identify a gun,” Bohaty said.
Under the old system, investigators posted photographs pasted on walls and relied on their memories to connect guns with crimes. If they suspected a match, they would compare bullets and cartridges manually with microscopes.
There are more than 220 IBIS sites across the country; the first machines were installed in 1994.
Nebraska has two IBIS sites, one in Lincoln and the other at the Omaha Police Department.
An IBIS machine costs about $450,000, which includes installation, Bohaty said. Funds for the machine came from the federal government. Jensen’s salary is the only cost to the State Patrol.
Jensen is key to the success of the system because she prepares cartridges and bullets for examination. She also uses her skills to enhance the grooves, striations and other markings so they can be captured in a digital image that can be used as evidence.
Bohaty and Jensen say IBIS does not return a single match but usually gives the operator up to 20 or 30 possible matches with accompanying scores. The matches with the highest scores have the most probability of being the match. If Jensen does get a hit, she tells Bohaty, who does a side-by-side comparison of cartridges or bullets with a different microscope. And he makes the final decision on a match.
“If it solves one homicide in five years,” Bohaty said, “it’s worth it.”